grow potatoes

We’ve grown potatoes accidentally a few times over the years – we aren’t totally sure how, but we think from inadvertently putting not completely composted potato eyes onto the garden in the spring. But last year was the first year we’ve grown them intentionally. It was so easy that I’m encouraging everyone to give it a try. We grew them in large buckets following these great and easy instructions. The secret, I’ve found, is to stay on top of adding additional layers of soil and compost as the leafy parts get about one-two inches above the level of the dirt.

I’m telling you about this now because we’re getting close to the time to be starting your potatoes – you want to start them around the time of the last frost (which is usually around April 17th around central Indiana. Find your last frost date here). And also because we found that those giant buckets that trees come in at the landscaping places make for great potato “barrels.” Your neighbors will likely be installing new trees once the weather turns, and you’ll want to keep you eyes out for those big buckets so you can ask your friends or neighbors to give them to you instead of sending them to the recycling bin. I, of course, can’t find any pictures of last year’s setup, and this was the best picture I could find to give you an idea of what to look for…but you get the idea.

I’ll try to remember to take step-by-step pics for this year, but I wanted you to be on the lookout now.